Method of generating gaseous mediums from air.



PATBNTED MAY 3, 1904.

J. N. ALSOP. METHOD OF GENERATING GASEOUS MBDIUMS FROM AIR.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 29,1903.

2 BHEETSSHEBT 1.

N0 MODEL.

PATENTED MAY 3, 1904.

J. N. ALSOP. METHOD OF GENERATING GA-SEOUS-MEDIUMS FROM AIR.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 29, 1903.

2 8HBBTSSHBET 2.

30 MODEL.

me Noam Pz'rcns co rHo'mumo msmnomw, D (5.

UNITED STATES Patented May 3, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

, JAMES N. ALSOP, OF OTVENSBO RO, KENTUCKY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 758,883, dated. May 3,1904.

Application filed May 29, 1908. Serial No. 169,382. (No specimens.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES N. ALsor, aciti- Zen of the United States,residing at Owensboro, in the county of Davis and State of Kentucky,have invented new and usefullmprovements in Methods of GeneratingGaseous Mediums from Air, of which the following is a specification.

1 by forming in the presence of air an are or a series of arcs and insuccessively dissipating the respective-arcs.

The invention has for a further object the production of a gaseousmedium by forming an arc and in a novel manner increasing the potentialof the current maintaining the arc. I am not able to identify accuratelyby chemical formula this gaseous medium. It has able propertieshereinafter referred to, in an economical manner in large quantities forcommercial use, and I carry out the method forming the subject-matter ofthis invention by means of the apparatus illustrated in the accompanylngdrawlngs, in which I Flgure 1 1s a perspective view of an apparatusconstructed according to my invention;

and Fig. 2 is an enlarged transverse sectional view through one of thetwo sets of the generating apparatus shown in Fig. 1, certain partsbeing in elevation.

Referring now to the drawings, 1 indicates the base-blocks of a framecomprising uprights 2 and transverse supporting-beams 3, which lattersupport in any suitable manner by means of rods 4 a conduit 5, closed atits plate 20.

ends and connected centrally to a pipe 6,

which in turn is operatively connected to an air-pump 7 having aneduction-pipe 8. Communicating with and extending upward from theconduit 5 on each side of the pipe 6 are a series of tubes opened at oneend, in the arrangement shown two of such tubes being located at eachside of the pipe 6 and indicated, respectively, by the numerals 9 and10. Extending upward through the lower end of each tube is an electrode,(indicated, respectively, by the numerals 11 11 and 12 12,) saidelectrodes being adjustably supported in holders 13 by means ofset-screws let. Extending downward through the upper end of each tube isa movable electrode, these electrodes being indicated, respectively, bythenurnerals 15 15 and 16, 16. The electrodes 15 16 are supported in anautomatically-adjustable manner,

as illustrated in Fig. 2, and in the manner 7 now to be described.

17 indicates movable supports, in the lower ends of which the electrodes15 16 are secured by means of binding-screws 18. Said sup ports areslidably mounted in guides 19, secured to the transverse frame members3, and at their upper ends are adjustably secured in plates 20 by meansof the binding-screws 21, said plates 20 being of non-conductingmaterial.

22 indicates a frame or cross-head which is adapted to have a verticalmovement on guiderods 23, mounted in an upright position on the frame ofthe machine, said cross-head or frame 22 carrying at opposite sidescylinders 24:, which are adapted to contain oil. VVorking in each ofsaid cylinders is a piston 25, which is connected by a piston-rod 26 tothe The pistons are each provided with small holes to allow the oil topass to the upper side of the pistons for a purpose hereinafterdescribed.

27 27 indicate pitmen which are connected at their lower ends to therespective crossheads 22 and at their upper ends are connected toopposite ends of a walking-beam 28, which is centrally and pivotallymounted on a support 29, rising from the frame of the machine. Thewalking-beam 28 is provided with a central projecting arm 30, pivotallyse- I 0 and forth in the usual manner, the rod 31 being reciprocated. byany suitable mechanical mean'ssuch as a crank, eccentric, or the likewhich means need not be particularly referred to.

It will be understood that the apparatus illustrated in Fig. 2 asapplied to the tubes 9 9 is identical with the apparatus applied to thetubes 10 10, and from Fig. 1 it will be seen that as the walking-beam isoperated one set of eloctrodessay will be moved downward, while theother set, 16, will be moved upward.

Referring now again to Fig. 2, it will be seen that in the downwardmovement of the pitman 27 the cylinders 24 will be carried downward,thus permitting the supports 17, which arecarried by the piston-rods 26,to fall by gravity, this downward movement of the supports'17 beingassisted by the partial vacuum -which will be formed in the cylinders24: in

such downward movement. This continues until the electrodes 15 comeincontact with the electrodes 11. As the pitman 27 is raised thepressure'of the oil on the under side of the pistons '25 will alsooperate to raise the of my apparatus I produce an'arc or flame when theelectrodes are drawn apart, it follows that said electrodes will burnaway and become shorter, and unless some means were provided forcompensating for this shortening of the electrodes they would soon failto come in contact in the downward movement of the pitman 27 and hencethe arc would not be formed. It will be seen that I provide forautomatically adjusting the fall of the electrodes 15 and 16'tocompensate for the burning away by the construction above described, inwhich the electrodes are supported by the pistons 25 upon a body of oilin the cylinders 24. As each piston 25 is provided with a small hole, asthe electrodes 15 and 16 shorten .the pistons will settle farther downin the cylinders, the oil passing through the small opening therein tothe upper side. The above construction not only provides for anautomatic adjustment of the movable electrodes, but it also insures ayielding contact of the electrodes, with the consequent advantage thatbreaking of the same in the act of contact is avoided. This latterfeature would be of importance only in cases where carbon or otherseries, and the wiring of the same from the dynamo will be readilyunderstood and need be but briefly referred to. Beginning with the wire34, said wire passes to the electrode 12 of one of the tubes 10 and thenover to the electrode 11 of one of the tubes 9. The stationary electrode12 of the other tube 10 is electrically connected by a wire 35 to themovable electrode/16 of the first tube 10. The other wire, 33, from thedynamo leads to a coil 36 having high self-induction and then leads fromsaid coil and is electrically connected to the movable electrodes 15 16of the corresponding tubes 9 10. A wire 37 connects the stationaryelectrode 11 of this latter tube 9 with the movable electrode 15 of theother tube 9. Thus tracing the circuit through the set of tubes shown tothe right of Fig. 1 and assuming that the electrodes 16 are in contactwith the electrodes 12, the current passes from the dynamo 33 throughthe wire 34 to the electrode 12, to which said wire is connected, thencethrough the electrode 16 and its support 17 to the wires 35, thence tothe electrode 12 of the other tube 10 and through the electrode 16 andsupport 17 to the wire 33, and thence through the induction-coil 36 backto the dynamo. When the opposite electrodes 15 and 11 are broughttogether, the current will be shortcircuited through these electrodesand pass in series therethrough, as just described with reference to thetubes 10.

The operation of the apparatus as thus far described is as follows:Assuming the parts to be in the positions shown in Fig. 1, the currentis now passing through the respective electrodes 11 and 15. As thewalking-beam 28 is operated to raise the electrodes 15 an arc is formedbetween the electrodes 15 and 11 and the gaseous medium will begenerated in the tubes 9. This gaseous medium is withdrawn from saidtubes by means of the action of the air-pump 7 and is delivered by saidairpump through the eductionpipe 8 to the place of use or storage. Asthe electrodes 15 continue to rise the electrodes 16 V will of course becorrespondingly lowered, and the are between the electrodes 15 and 11will be maintained until the electrodes 16 come in contact with theelectrodes 12, when the current will be short-circuited to the tubes 10and the are between the electrodes 15 and 11 will be extinguished. Thesame operation will be repeated as the electrodes 16 are raised, the arebeing maintained until the electrodes 15 and 11 come in contact or intothe position ,in which they are shown in the drawings,

when the current will be again short-circuited to the tubes 9 and thearcs between the electrodes 16 and 12 will be extinguished. .T i

to span a given space with the necessity of thereby overcoming the greatresistance to its passage formed by the air. I have found, however, thatwith a low-potential current some means must be provided for feeding theare, or, in other words, to meet the increased resistance offered as theelectrodes are moved farther apart. This requirement 1 meet by theintroduction into the circuit of a coil having high self-induction, theaction of which is as follows: When either pair of the elec trodes inthe tubes are brought together, thereby causing short-circuit of theelectrifying apparatus, the coil 36 is excited to a high degree ofmagnetism, and as the electrodes are pulled apart and are followed bythe are or flash, which increases the resistance of the circuit, thestrength of the magnetism of the coil will be diminished. This change inthe strength of magnetism generates an extra current in the circuit orcoil in the same direction as the original current and proportional instrength to the magnetic change, all as is well known. As the electrodesare drawn apart to form arcs the resistance of the circuit isadditionally increased, causing the strength ofmagnetism in the coil tobe additionally diminished, thereby causing the potential at theelectrodes to rise to the necessary strength to meet the resistance ofthe air or gas between them as the distance between the electrodes isincreased until the opposite pair of electrodes are brought together andshort-circuits said arcs.

The principle of operation of the self-induction coil 36 will be seen tobe that of inducing currents in the circuit, and by this means I amenabled to secure the potential necessary to overcome the resistancebetween the separated electrodes, and thus maintain the arc, whileemploying a dynamo generating currents of relatively low potential.

The amount of the gaseous medium generated in a given time will be inproportion to the number of amperes of electricity used, the potentialat which the current is passed through the apparatus, and the amount ofair drawn through the tubes by the air-pump;

A distinguishing feature of my invention is the fact that the electrodesare brought into actual contact to start the are. This contact lasts foran appreciable length of time, and the time during which the electrodesare in actual contact is sufficient to enable the coil 36 to becomethoroughly saturated with'electrieity. As a result when the electrodesare separated to draw off the are the potential of the current isincreased in the manner heretofore explained, and not only so, but thearc is fed with current and prevented from appreciable attenuation andmaintained at a practically uniform density, which is the maximumdensity obtainable at the time. This may be further explained by statingthat in practice the are drawn off rarely exceeds four and one-halfinches in length. whereas with a machine operating under the conditionsherein described an arc eighteen inches long can be drawn off before thearcing distance is passed. Thus it will be seen that I produce an arc,maintain the same at its maximum density and without appreciableattenuation, and short-circuit the are while in this condition.

While I have shown and described the tubes 9 and 10 as arranged in setsof two each, it will be obvious that I can employ any desired number oftubes, beginning with one in each set. It will also be obvious that sofar as certain features of the invention are concerned it will not benecessary to arrange the tubes in sets and operate the electrodesalternately, but that I could, for instance, employ a single tube andoperate the same according to my invention. I prefer, however, toarrange the tubes in sets of two or more and operate the samealternately, for the reason that such operation affords greater rapidityin the .production of the gaseous medium desired.

In praetiee'I have used a dynamo designed to give out five amperes atlive hundred volts and an induction-coil having an ohmic resistance ofabout one hundred ohms, said induction-coil comprising an iron corewound with No. 18 copper wire. IV ith the particular form of apparatusherein described I have produced a gaseous medium of the characterreferred to with the voltage across the arc varying from one hundred andfifty volts to nine hundred volts and the current in the circuit of thearc varying from twenty amperes to onetenth of an ampere. The particularlimitations of voltage and current above referred to are by no meansessential, since I have found that flour may be bleached and modified,as will hereinafter be described, with the voltage at the arc varyingwithin the widest limits, and I believe that the same effects would beproduced by the highest attainable voltage.

The valuable properties referred to as being possessed by thegaseousmedium produced by this apparatus are those of whitening and pu rifyingcereals and otherwise improving the quality thereofthatisto say, lhavefound that flourafter being acted upon by the modified airthat is,air which has been acted upon by the spark or arc-is verynoticeablybleached, presenting a dead-white color in contrast with thecreamy yellow of the untreated flour. I have also found that whenportions of the treated and untreated flours, equal by weight, areblended with equal quantities of distilled water the two doughs thusformed are very different in consistency, that from the treated flourbeing apparently drier and much more elastic than that from theuntreated flour. the dough from the latter flour being short andrelatively non-elastic. When equal portions, by weight, of the twoflours are blended with water suificient to make a dough suitable forbaking, it is found that the treated flour requires more water, fromfive to seven per cent. more. I also find that the treatedand untreatedflours from the same barrel when made into dough and baked will produceloaves of bread which upon being cut or broken show the same differencein color as was shown by the treated and untreated flours, the breadfrom the treated flour being much white-r.-

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. The method,which consists in generating gases from air bycontinuously bringing in contact and separating in the presence of air,to form arcs, two electrodes connected with a source of electricity, andwithdrawing from the region of the arcs the gaseous medium generatedthereby.

2. The method of generating a gaseous medium from air, which consists incontinuously bringing in contact and separating in the presence of air,to form arcs, two electrodes connected with a source of electricity, andthen short-circuiting said arcs.

8. The method of generating a gaseous medium which consists inalternately bringing in contact and separating two sets of electrodesconnected with a source of electricity, and

short-circuiting the are formed in each set by the contact of theelectrodes of the other set.

4. The method of generating a gaseous medium from air which consists inbringing in contact in the presence of air two electrodes connected withasource of electricity, separating said electrodes to form an arc, andautomatically increasing the potential of the current by suchseparation.

5. The method of generating a gaseous medium from air which consists inbringing in contact in the presence of air two electrodes connected withasource of electricity, separating said electrodes to form an arc, andsimultaneously with the separation of the electrodes increasing thepotential of the current.

6. The method of generating a gaseous medium from air which consists inalternately bringing in contact and separating in the presence of airtwo sets of electrodes connected with a source of electricity whereby aseries of arcs is generated, and withdrawing from the region of the arcsthe gaseous medium generated.

7. The method of generating a gaseous medium from air which consists inalternately bringing in contact and separating in the presence of airtwo sets of electrodes connected with a source of electricity, whereby aseries of arcs is generated, and short-circuiting such arcs atpredetermined intervals.

8. The method of generating a gaseous medium from air, which consists inproducing in a volume of air an electric arc, and continuouslyshort-circuiting and reestablishing such arc.

9. The method of generating a gaseous medium from air, which consists inproducing in a volume of air an electric are, by bringing in contact andseparating two electrodes connected with a source of-electricity andcontinuously dissipating and reestablishing such arc, and automaticallyincreasing the potential of the current coincident with the formation ofthe arc.

10. The method of generating a gaseous medium from air, which consistsin continuously bringing in contact and separating in the presence ofair, to form arcs of a given density, two electrodes connected with asource of electricity, and short-circuiting each arc while at itsmaximum density.

11. The method of generating a gaseous mediumfrom air, which consists incontinuously bringing in contact and separating in the presence of air,to form arcs, two electrodes connected with a source of electricity,maintaining the density of each are without appreciable attenuation, andthen short-circuiting said arc.

12. The method of generatinga gaseous medium from air, which consists incontinuously bringing into stationary contact and then separating in thepresence of air, to form arcs, two electrodes connected with asource ofelectricity, increasingthe potential of the current by the separation ofthe electrodes, and shortcircuiting each are before the density of thesame is appreciably diminished.

13. The method of generating a gaseous medium from air, which consistsin establishing in the presence of air an electric arc, maintaining saidare at a given density, and then shortcircuiting it before the densityof the same is appreciably diminished, and withdrawing from the regionof the arc the air modified thereby.

14. The method of generating a gaseous medium from air, which consistsin bringing in contact two electrodes connected with a source ofelectricity, separating said electrodes in the presence of air to forman arc, short-circuiting the arc while it is at its maximum density andwithdrawing from the region of the arc the air modified thereby.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

J AMES N; ALSOP.

Witnesses:

F. B. KEEFER, GEO. REA.

